Father's Day
by prettyedsilence
Summary: It's Father's Day and Goku has been dead for several years. But oddly, Gohan doesn't seem to think this is a day for tears. Piccolo & Gohan


The bell rang. Gohan heaved a sigh and placed his books carefully in his backpack. His mother wouldn't be pleased if his latest test was messed up.

"Hey Gohan! Want to get some ice cream?" Videl smiled at him kindly. "I know it's Father's Day and all, and I didn't want you to be by yourself."

Gohan smiled back, but he shook his head.

"Thanks, but I've got something I have to do today."

Videl looked puzzled. "Something else? What are you doing?"

"Visiting someone."

She cocked her head to the side and Gohan bit back a grimace. "Oh really? Who are you visiting?"

"M-my dad." Gohan slung his backpack over his shoulder and started toward the door.

"I thought you said he was dead." Videl frowned and put her hands on her hips.

Gohan looked over his shoulder with a smile. "Sort of. Sorry Videl, maybe next time!" He waved at her angry face and sprinted down the hallway. He flew off so fast that nobody even saw him leave.

When he touched down on the high platform, he heaved a sigh of relief. Nobody could follow him here. He liked Videl pretty well, but she could be persistent when she wanted (which was pretty much all the time when it came to him, somehow).

A tall shadow loomed over him and Gohan smiled.

"Hi Piccolo."

The Namekian grinned down at him. "Hey, kid. Been a little while." He turned around and Gohan followed.

They walked to the training area, but Gohan stopped.

"Ah, Piccolo, I actually didn't come here to train today."

"Eh?" Piccolo turned around, looking surprised. "Then what did you come for, boy?"

Gohan bit the inside of his cheek and shifted his weight from one foot to the other. He had been so sure that this was a good idea before, but now…

"Well, erm, it's… do you know what day it is?"

"I do not follow the ebb and flow of normal mortal time, Gohan. What is it that you came to say?" Piccolo crossed his arms over his chest and looked apprehensive.

Gohan waved his arms. "It's nothing bad!" The Namekian relaxed fractionally. "No, really, it's just… it's Father's Day."

Piccolo's face relaxed and he floated into a cross-legged position in midair. "Ah, yes, and your father has been gone for several years now, hasn't he?"

"Yeah, sort of," Gohan muttered. He sat cross-legged on the ground and looked up at Piccolo just like he had when he was four and being trained by the big scary green monster.

Piccolo frowned. "What do you mean, sort of? Have you had some sort of revelation as to your parentage?" He looked mildly alarmed.

Gohan laughed. "No, no way!" He scratched his head. "I was just… well, mom was talking about dad the other day and how great he was; she was telling Goten stuff for his Father's Day talk in class, and I…" Gohan stared at the ground.

"Yes?" Piccolo prompted in his gravelly voice.

Gohan looked up again, and his expression was fierce. "Well, she asked me to tell Goten about him, and I said that he was a great man and an incredible warrior. It's all true; dad's amazing. But sometimes…" his voice dropped, "sometimes I think that he wasn't a very good dad. And I feel bad." He looked down again.

"Nobody said that you had to worship your father," Piccolo said. Gohan looked up, a little startled. "I myself have several times questioned his judgement when it came to you. But he loved you well."

"Yeah, kinda. But he only ever cared about fighting; he never talked to me if it wasn't about fighting. Even when he was alive, all he did was train. We barely saw him a lot of the time because he was so busy training. When he took me to the Kami House that day, that was the first time I'd seen him in a year. I cried when he took me because I couldn't remember who he was." The words poured out of Gohan like water from a sieve; it felt so good to finally say the things he'd felt forbidden to say for so long. "And I know – I know we had to save the world from Cell – I mean, you trained me to save us from Vegeta – but he was just angry at me when it looked like I was going to fail."

Piccolo opened his mouth and Gohan shook his head vehemently, black hair falling into his eyes.

"No, it's true. He told me not to be a coward; he told me I needed to get vengeance. He never understood that I didn't care about that stuff, because he didn't care what I thought… he just, well, he didn't care about me. Not the way a dad should. If I'd died he'd have been sad, but not that sad."

Piccolo remained silent. Gohan looked up and a smile touched the corners of his lips.

"Not like you, Piccolo."

Piccolo's eyes widened.

"You knew I didn't want to fight. You died so I wouldn't have to fight. You risked the fate of the earth because you cared about me more than the 3 billion other people on the planet."

Piccolo dropped his head just a little, and he didn't argue. He looked at Gohan, and his eyes were soft.

"You're right, kid. Not much of a warrior compared to your father, eh? Not much of a hero, either? I would've damned the whole earth because of my own sentiment. Not worthy of much respect, eh?" His mouth twisted a little, but there was no regret in his eyes or his voice.

Gohan stood up and turned his back.

"Probably not. But I think… I think that's how a father should feel. And," he glanced over his shoulder with worried eyes, "I know I'm probably a bad person and a dishonor to his memory, but I'll always think of you as my father, Piccolo. Don't worry, I don't expect you to be okay with it or anything. I just wanted you to know." He walked away without looking back and flew to the bottom of the tower as quickly as he could, overcome with embarrassment and worry.

At the bottom of the tower he set down lightly on the ground and looked around. He could feel another chi…

Piccolo landed next to him and Gohan's eyes widened.

"Shouldn't your father teach you how to drive?" Piccolo asked in a rough voice. He looked uncomfortable, but he looked straight at Gohan.

"Yeah! I mean… um, yes, but…" Gohan trailed off, not wanting to say that Goku hadn't done it, but not daring to say that Piccolo could.

Piccolo started to walk away and Gohan stared after him. The Namekian spun around and yelled, "Are you coming or not?"

"Y-yes!" Gohan stuttered. Piccolo glanced down at him quickly, and Gohan smiled eagerly at him. They walked away side by side, silent, and a little awkward from teenage displays of affection that neither the older nor the younger really knew how to react to. They walked beside each other like they always had… as father and son.


End file.
